Daily News

Emporia’s 1929 Granada Theatre.

The Granada Theatre has been undergoing restoration for several years. In 1994, the building was purchased to save it from demolition. A large amount of money was raised by the community, grants were received, and the renovation began.

The project was originally estimated to cost $1,727,000, but of course, the price of building materials has jumped.

Work is progressing well, but it’s not likely to be open in October 2007 as originally planned. But maybe by the end of the year.

Yesterday Janet Fish and I visited awhile in the Granada Coffee Company. When we left, we peeked in through the open door at the theatre.

Doug Ford asked, “Would you like to come in?”

You bet!

Since the restoration began, I’d never been further inside than just past the box office, where these guys are standing.

I’d only been in the theatre several times anyway, back in the early ’80s, when I moved to town. It was then the Fox Theatre.

Doug Ford, Interim Director of the Emporia Granada Theatre Alliance and Bones Ownbey, Project Foreman.

Doug Ford worked with the former director, Vickie Hayes-Walworth. Ownbey has worked on the project since last August and has years of experience in restoration.

Bones had just sent the work crew home. But he had to hang around and wait for a welder to show up, which gave him time to give us a personal tour.

It’s a hot job. There are fans in the building, but no air conditioning.

“By 9:00, our shirts are dripping wet and then we have the whole day to go,” Bones said.

This has the same background as the above photo - looking toward the stage. That square of light is a doorway to the alley. This scaffolding supports a plywood floor, way up high.

The building is on both the National and State Historical Registries, which have strict rules about restoration.

“We have to put it back the way it was,” Bones said.

Off to the side of the theatre, along the wall, they’ve recreated some of the stenciling.

“The building was covered with stencils,” Bones said.

They only have a few interior photos to go by, and those are in black-and-white, so they had to find another way to determine the exact colors used on the walls when the building was constructed.

After a 1959 fire, the interior was painted. To find the original colors, workers have had to strip off one layer of paint at a time. “We’d peel a layer of paint and look on the back side of it (to see the original colors),” Bones said.

Bones shows an area they dug out which will eventually be new restrooms. That’s something new that the historical groups have to allow. “ADA trumps everything,” Bones said. Originally, the only restrooms were upstairs.

And, now we go up the stairs.

Up in the balcony. That plastic sheet is covering seating.

Ta-da! These chairs were a gift from Mitchell-Markowitz Builders, owner of Kenyon Hall.

It was an amazing gift.

They got more chairs than they needed to fill the balcony. Also the curve of the Granada is the same as the curve as Kenyon Hall, so the chairs fit perfectly. Bones said new chairs would have cost them $175-250 apiece.

This scaffolding, which started on the ground floor, goes way up high. On top of all these bars lies a flooring made of plywood. That gives workers a solid base to stand on while they reconstruct the ceiling.

From the balcony, we climbed a skinny metal ladder which led to the top of the scaffold…

Below us is the scaffolding. Above us, the actual ceiling. They have permission to use dry wall instead of plaster on the ceiling.

Back down to the balcony level. Between the restrooms, this is the men’s smoking lounge - women weren’t allowed. It was 1929, after all. The window looks out over Commercial Street - that’s the First Presbyterian Church.

Now, down to the basement.

Many of the decorative plaster pieces have been painted - with a 1/2″ brush - to get into the crevices. It’s a slow process - and there are a lot of pieces, well over a hundred. Bones said that 80 go around the front of the balcony.

Beth Thomas’ website shows how she and others made these decorative pieces.

A painting table in the basement. It felt at least 10-15 degrees cooler in the basement.

The old air-cooling system. Twenty tons of ice per day were used. The ice was dropped in through a hole in front of the building, a chute into the basement.

Now to the stage area. Here we can see damage from that 1959 fire. The firemen tore out the proscenium.

This will be reconstructed. Note the stenciling - that they’ll redo as well.

Under the stage, they’re building dressing rooms and a green room. The old orchestra pit will be used to store the chairs and tables from the main floor.

The main floor, sloped now, will be tiered. Instead of the usual theatre seating, portable chairs and table will be used. That will allow for the area to be used for banquets, wedding dinners, meetings, etc.

Before long, this marquee will be announcing events at the Granada.

Filed under: E-town, buildings, history on July 21st, 2007